Low Tide is the best time to photograph birds that frequent the lowland areas surrounding a large body of water.  And, it is even better when the light is good. The low tide exposes "food" that is otherwise underwater and not reachable.  

I was still experimenting with the new lens trying to understand how fast it focused, its sharpness, and background bokeh.  (Eh, what's that?  Bokeh is a term used to discuss the quality of the background that is out of focus.  It is most obvious with longer length telephoto lenses. Sometimes it is pronounced "bouquet.")

At the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve where these images were captured, there is a little pond of water hidden from sight right next to the parking lot.  Many don't see it, but I've learned to check there before heading out into the Reserve ... the water is still and it is possible to get some cool reflection shots.  And, that's where this first image of three ducks sunning themselves was taken:

The gull in this next image is flying away with a nice big juicy clam:

But how is it going to open it?  I was amazed when I first saw this behavior. The gull repeatedly drops the clam onto a hard surface until the shell cracks open.  In the next image, a gull is dropping a clam.  The red arrow is pointing to the clam.  I watched as it went through this process several times.

Food is more plentiful at low tide ... here's a duck dredging in the muck.  Yum, yum!

This next shot shows a flock of small shore birds ... there are many varieties and they are generally referred to as "peeps".

And, for some reason, a group of them all decided to land on this one little temporary "island."

This next picture shows a Black-crowned Night Heron hiding in the midst of a big bush next to the water.  As their name implies, they tend to roost during the day and forage at night.  They are a fairly large bird ... about 2 pounds in weight standing 2 feet tall with a 3.5 foot wingspan.  Gotta love that red eye!  By the way, can you  see the other Night Heron in the picture ... here's a hint: its at the bottom of the image.

And finally, a Night Heron out in the open.  They have a long white "top" knot which you can see in this image.

Well that's it for a walk-around at Bolsa Chica during low tide.  You never know what you'll find!

Thanks for looking.  

Bye for now,

Adam

P.S.  Remember you can click on any image to see a larger version displayed!